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SMILES AND 
REFLECTIONS 

BY 

SHELDON CORNELIUS CLARK 



O, Friend! Prithee that this book be read, 
Whether thy hair be so or not! 

Titian curls some praise in girls, 
But they were soon forgot. 

-- From the fly-leaf of of an old book- 



Published by 

ARIEL PUBLISHING CO. 

Westgate, Los Angeles 
California 






COPYRIGHT 

b* 

SHELDON C. CLARK 

Los Angeles, Cal. 
1915 



APR 2S t - 

©CLA398541 



iK 



^ 



To 

J. F. R., 

WHOSE SIMPLE LIFE, ARTISTIC NATURE 

AND NOBLE SOUL SHINE, AS A GUIDING STAR 

IN THE NIGHT OF A DREARY WORLD, 

THESE LINES 

ARE LOVINGLY INSCRIBED 

BY THE AUTHOR. 



SMILES AND REFLECTIONS 



FORWARD 

Oh! Muse of the Master of Song! 

Strike now his humble lyre, 
With a hand, steady and strong, 

Give warmth to his lines from thy fire; 
From Delphic grot, lend now thy tho't 

And charm of mythic life and lore 
To modern tho't, and the things it brought 

To us, — never heard of before! 

O, with thy sunbeams, his body fill; 

And, Beautiful God, with thy science flood 
His mind and memory, until, 

In strength of his own god-hood, red blood 
Shall flow, as each true line shall glow 

With Life, as it is, — or ought to be; 
And, as fast as can be, he will the man be, 

Who, for many years, he fought to be! 



SMILES AND REFLECTIONS 
PRELUSIVE 

Smiles look beyond the pessimistic veil 
Into the secret place where Joys prevail; — 
Where grows the Poet's Flower in crannied wall, 
Which to know and understand, root and all, — 

Is the Wisdom of the Sages, 

The meaning of "the Mills of God," 
Where Time, his merciless feet have trod 

Through all the changing ages. 

And never Loving Smile, 

Through all this weary while, 

Showed, like some poor, blind creature groping, 

But with Youth Immortal, went forward Hoping. 

I. 

A MESSAGE OF GOOD CHEER 

The temperamental determination 

In him who will not grouch and scoff 

At this great world of all creation, 
Wears a Smile that won't wash off. 



11 



He makes his happiness right here, 
In pleasant home for human folks, 

In spirit of service and good cheer, 
Combined with Joyous little jokes. 

He lifts the doubtful, gloomy curtain, 

Lights the prospect on the way; 
Gives you hope of being certain 

Of a place on "Easy Street" some day! 

In love with thought and laws and work, — 

The trinity of all success, — 
With courage new, he scorns to shirk 

The task that spells the word, "possess." 

Thoughts and laws all know their ways, 
And guided by them, thru works and days, 
With purpose one, if he aspire, 
He will realize his heart's desire. 

Desires produce after their kind; 
Parents are they in the human mind. 
Wish what you will, tho' you still grope, 
There are no bounds to lawful hope. 



12 



Keep the Law of Thy Members, and of 

Thy Mind, — 
And what you Will, shall you surely find; 
Not what you read, nor what was seen, 
But what in your Heart you really have Been. 

I know not what powers there be 
In stars to guide our Destiny; 
But this I know: All that's wrought 
Is Seed and Fruit of Cosmic Thought. 

As the seed of wheat, or the seed of dates, 
The Life will be as the Thought creates; 
The product of the busy Mind, 
The outward expression of its kind. 

Whatever work man essays to frame, 
He, himself, must be the same. 
Made of the stuff within the soul, 
Until to the vision appears the whole. 

Know what you want to do, then hold 

The Thought unwavering and bold. 

Do every day what should be done, 

You approach your Goal each setting sun. 

13 



II. 

THE POWER OF SMILES 

Power is the Smile on the face of Beauty, 
Whence men act from other sense than duty; 
Where two red lips and two brown eyes 
Conspire to work their mysteries. 

Who said the gods had flown away? 

Apollo's music yet fills the air, 
His virgin sister joins him in play 

Where Venus watches debonair! 

The drama of the hour is set 

Quite different from the old, — 
But, if you look with care, you'll get 

The old, old Stories all retold. 

This subtile power, for seven years, 
Involved the Greeks, in blood and tears, 
For Beautiful Helen and a Royal Boy, 
To encamp about the walls of Troy. 

O, many a sacred, secret trust 
Has come to naught thru Beauty-lust! 
Missions of many weary miles 
Have failed by the coy of Woman's Smiles. 
14 



Men work with zeal, like boys at play, 
Till woman enters — then the de-el to pay! 
Good sense forgot, they act like gabies; 
Strong men anon become as babies. 

Rivalry divides old friends, 

And Jealousy his venum lends, — 

All for this "rainbow painted on air," 

Which happened along just then and there. 

III. 

THE ENCHANTRESS 

With no other mermaids on hand to "fry," 
Throw this in your skillet, and try 
To learn the^ wizzardry and wiles 

Of the varied Types of women's smiles. 

The conscious Enchantress, knowing her power, 
And you the victim have the "bones," 

Chance, only, being her business hour, 
Like a market-woman, at once propones. 

Think not, however, that her style 
Is that of market-woman, the while ; 
She is luxurious and lazy, — 
All enchantresses are lazy. 
15 



She looks at you with wondering pity — 
Too fat of brain to be witty — 
She looks at you with query and surprise, 
And to herself she thus replies: 

"I know that I'm no beauty prize, 
Yet this old trick of mouth and eyes 
Is going to bring this lobster across, — 
So big and strong, yet soft as moss!" 

O, the humorous pity of it all! 
This man so strong, bulky and tall, 
Like Hercules in captivity 
To the Lydian queen, Omphale! 

IV. 

THE CIRCE SMILE 

Some encounter the Circe Smile. 
The groveling fool sees not the guile ! 
He's fed, and toasted with the wine 
That turns him into filth of swine ; 

Forgets his home, his friends, his pledges all 
And every sense of Duty's call; 
A travesty of man! In morals, sick, — 
A sore on the Body Politic! 
16 



The Circe Smile, with its dire spell, 
Links women with the powers of hell, — 
A fragrant narcotic, benumbing men's might 
By the Alchemy of Aphrodite. 

V. 

THE SMILE OF MONIED 
ARISTROCRACY 

The Money Smile, cruel and bold, 
Seen, nowadays, on woman's face, — 

Exponent of congested gold, — 
Powerful, as a bear's embrace. 

Arogant as frozen waters; — 
Not in the millionaire himself, 

But in the smiles of wife and daughters 
Lurk the curve of brutal pelf. 

Her "fortune," indeed, is in her face ; 

She smiles her consciousness of power; 
Forgotten is her childhood grace, — 

And this her life's high-tidal hour. 

Now coldly does her smiles confess, 

That of all which this big world contains, 

She may, by simple wish possess, 
From "Hubby's" automatic gains. 

17 



VI. 

WOMAN'S SMILES, THE SHEET- 
ANCHOR OF THE GOOD 
SHIP, EARTH 

But be it far from every mind, 

That Women have not in Smiling wrought 
A greater Service to Mankind, 

Than all the ills they may have frought. 

Good women also smile; and doing so, 

'Tis then we only surely know 
What verily Is a smile ; for then 

Bright heaven opens unto men. 

What more delightful sight to see 

In the vast fields of constructive life, 

Than Home-coming of the father 
To happy children, cheerful wife? 

Vera meets you at the door, 

George and Albert claim first kiss! 

And Mamma's Smile the cradle o'er, 
Declares the whole unuttered Bliss 



18 



Of this heaven-born Counsel of the Free! 

Miniature of the future State, 
Where Love is queen of Liberty, 

And Peace, the Comrade of her mate! 

Our Mothers gave the world its men ; 
They regard their sons with pride — and then 
Our masters blight the world with strife, 
And destroy for both, their peace and life. 

Oh! the cruelty, withal! 

In light of Jesus' life and word, 
The Song of Peace and Heaven's call, — 

O sons of Mothers, pray Sheathe the Sword! 

VII. 

THE BIRTH OF SMILES— THE TOKEN 
OF "A LIVING SOUL" 

In Nature's vast elaboration, 

Amid the eons, there came a feast, — 

The fact and sign of separation 
Of human life, and that of beast. 



19 



"The sons of God" then walked the earth, 
And primal man on man then smiled ; 

The infant, Joy, was swathed in Mirth, 

And Smiles were born to parent and child. 

The crowning moment of a mother's joy, 
The greatest that our race may find, 

Is when first her baby boy 

Smiles answer of a Normal Mind. 

Great libraries, with vast aisles 

Of books, and schools with many teachers, 
May not unfold the Soul as Smiles 

In faces with noble, inciting features. 

The most invincible, occult force 

That men will meet in the wildwood 

Journey of a life-time course 

Is the Smile of Innocent Childhood. 

And, if you offend such little one, 

It were well for you, you should not be; 

Better your neck should thread a millstone, 
And cast yourself into the sea! 



20 



Why? Because Instinctive Law of Race 
Protection all other laws replace! 
Give up Everything, but Mind 
And perpetuation of your kind! 

If these you surrender, all is lost! 

The very Key-Stone of the world, 
And end Creation looked to most, 

Into nothingness and Chaos hurled! 

VIII. 

POLARITY, THE LAW OF HARMONY 
AND CONSTRUCTIVE FORCE 

Already, Cheer, like a rosy dawn, 

Stands tip-toe in propitious East, 
To greet }'ou, whether of brain or brawn, 

To join our Brothers' Cosmic Feast. 

But this great Presence none ever saw, 
Or fully knew its wonderous worth, 

Until Polarity's great Law 

In minds of thoughful men found birth. 



21 



Knowing this law in their daily life,- — 

For them there is no paradox; 
Knowing it not, we suffer strife, 

And half the ills of Pandora's box. 

Things went wrong in the home today? 

You felt the derth of charity, — 
And thought a thousand miles away 

Not far? — It lacked Polarity. 

In vast Nature's Duality, 

Her constant law T Polarity, 

In pairs, reciprocating thru 

Every part of the Cosmos, true, — 

Thru molecules, and systems of countless suns, 
The "law of twos" forever runs. 
Opposites pull from pole to pole. 
Things Alike, Repel, body or soul. 

Think not that in "field" of opposing poles 
Is a Force new-made. It is the cosmic power 

That in beauty made the world that rolls, — 
And making others, until this hour. 



22 



The cattle on a thousand hills, 

The seas of wheat and rice and corn, 

Great trees by the side of purling rills, 
All on the back of Polarity borne! 

The law of the "Infra-World" and force 
Is the same as this, in its course ; 
Atom-worlds 'round their centers whirl, 
And around their molecular centers curl. 

Each Atom-Planet keeps its course, — 
A core of electro-motive force, — 
Itself moving between its poles, 
As round and round its center it rolls. 

The Infra-World, itself a magnet, 

Changes its poles and maintains its force, 

With reference to its mate, — 

All attracted by each, each moving in course.* 



*No?E — The technicalities of the above theme do not accommodate 
themselves readily to metrical composition; but, if my reader desires 
to pursue it further, let him read a small book, "Two New Worlds," 
I. The Infra- World; II. The Supra- World, by E. E. Fournier, author 
©f "The Electron Theory." Longmans, Green & Co., Publishers, 
London. — The Author. 

23 



IX. 



THE HUNTING-GROUNDS OF THE 
MODERN SCIENTIST 

Light is the Lord of the world. It knows 

Its laws to perfection. 
Thruout the universe it flows 

In every direction. 

The wizzardry of Modern Science, 
The symbol of almighty Truth, — 
Enjoys a million willing clients, 

And shows the world's eternal Youth! 

Beauty is Truth and Truth is Force, — - 
No secrets here to buy or sell, — 

The perfect three in Nature's course 
Observed by man, he will excell 

In aspirations of our race. 

In tune with "music of the stars," 
He will with Harmony replace 

The selfishness and pain that bars 



24 



Us from our high estate. For man— 
The paragon of life on earth, 

Since records of being below began, — ■ 
With all his faults, has greatest worth. 



The law of the Sea is the law of the Soul ; 
Its tides flow out, then inward roll. 
As it fills the harbor, so the spirit comes in 
And awakens the soul to new life within. 

When the tide is out in the soul of you, 
And life seems full, and the whole of you 
Glutted with wealth and its seeming power,- 
You're high and happy in your hour. 

But the tide come in, and you find Yourself 
The infinite Treasure, and not the pelf 
That made you so glad ! You are the maker 
Of all that you worshipped ! Also partaker 

Of all that the Spirit of the spheres 
Has made. — Maker of the gods of men, 
Since Time began to count his years! 
Shall You then, be their Slave again? 
25 



X. 

THE SIMPLE LIFE AND ITS 
CONTRAST— THEOLOGY 

I tend my garden of soil and seed, 

And wait the warm and gentle showers ; 

I clear my ground of grass and weed, 
And duly reap its fragrant flowers* 

A partner of the sun am I ; 

Content to do my work right here> 
Where song of bird and joy of sky 

Fill my hours with normal cheer* 

The whole great worlds too much for me ; 

It buffets and baffles the student mind, 
Like drowning swimmer in a stormy sea, 

Grasping for all, I nothing find. 



I know not where my Home shall be, 

Nor how long within this Veil I may survive ; 

I know, like streams, I travel toward the Sea 

Of Larger Life, and shall be ready when I arrive. 
26 



I do not know the features of that Home,— 
The Noble Scenes that will by view surprise ; 

I know that when unto my place I come, 
'Twill be what then my life can realize* 

The Church shows jasper walls and 'golden streets' ; 

Golden harps, and one unceasing concert grand ; 
A golden gate, a golden throne with jeweled seats! 

A kind of heaven that hints of Jewish brand. 

The symbols of the lusty Turk present 
Also, pictures of his heart's desire ; — ■ 

The dreamy, luxurious, lascivious content 
That deadens souls in their self-centered fire. 

It's pleasant to think in Symbols outlined, 

And image forth the pictures grand ; 
But lost to truth and death to mind, 

Who forgets for what those Symbols stand. 

In terms of matter we ever tho't of heaven ;< — ■ 
Of "heathen" not again should we complain. 

The Christ and Socrates much the same have given ; 
Their gifts, by Dogma, ne'er can we explain. 



27 



The Spirit of Truth must be discerned 
In Spirit sense, — as we have learned 
From loftier points than matter-sense ; 
And Spirit tho't and Spirit sense, 
Direct us to our Recompehse. 

XL 

COURAGE, SELF-CONTROL, KEEPING 
IN "TUNE" 

We, the People, are children still. 

Folly fills the world with tears; 
Formality and fear, with chill ; 

While Wisdom calls for manly cheers. 

Cheer of a fearless heart and mind, 
Cheer of a soul, knowing how to rest 

In the Order of Nature, and be kind ; 
And to smile, having done your best! 

Our best in effort is the bush 

Whereon our greatest joys bloom; — 

When one tries, don't "knock," but push! 
For improvement there is always room. 



28 



When trained in heart and mind and will, 
And all are crowned with Self-control, 

Our Social life will then fulfill 
The aspirations of the Soul. 

Then, joys innumerable shall be; 

And smiles of Cheer, like a new day's birth, 

A happy Social world shall see, — 

The Marriage of the heaven and earth ! 

* * * 

A brave Smile is the rarest thing. 

'Tis rarer in life than charity ; 
It seems like a lark in the early spring, 

Great, because of its rarity. 

Smiles the light of the world attend. 

Smile, and you drive gloom away ; 
Smile on the stranger who has no friend, 

And he will "smile on you," some day! 

* * * 

From all life's ills you may be immune, 
As you travel the Open Road, 

If with factors Four you keep in "tune," 
And joyously, carry the load: 
29 



In Tune with your Work, be it great or small, 
In Tune with How it is done, withal ; 
In Tune with your Purpose, loving and true, 
In Tune with the Worker — that's YOU ! 

XII. 

A RECONNOISSANCE OF TWO TYPES 

OF THOUGHT WITH REFERENCE 

TO SMILES 

Smiles the cushions are that soften 
Man's hard knocks that come full often. 
Thru the wrinkles he seems to see 
A goodly world, with which to agree. 

Cool and confiding, he seeks his jobs, 

And, careless like, with Fate hobnobs. 

Familiar with the swing of events, 

While working for things, he gets ''contents." 

He holds large trust in the part that smiles ; 
He seeks not trouble, knows no trials. 
By habits of life, he keeps in "tune," 
And all his days are like a day in June. 



30 



A fine philosophy he shows ; 
But of that, forsooth, he little knows. 
And I think 'tis finer in one to live it, 
Than, by fine talk, to others give it ! 



A Christian Dogma, howe'er absurd, 
When by the "touching voice" is heard, 
And Reason in the Crowd is broken, — 
It falls, as tho' a god had spoken ! 

If this you doubt, ask Mrs. Granday, 

And she will tell how Mr. Sunday 

Went to "to the bat" with a half-million call,- 

And, My! how he made the "sinners" fall! 

This modern Samson knows the game ; 

He is not wanted for the souls he saves, — 
That is merely a convenient claim, — 

It's saving Churches from their graves! 

Some good folks, with their jealous God, 
Think that "man was made to mourn" ; 

And all are called to "pass under the rod," 
Because of "the primal sin" they've borne. 
31 



All, in answer to this, I would say : 

Go bask in the sun of a West Coast day ; 

Or recall the Divine in the face of your child, 

When it looked up into yours, and smiled ! 

From false teaching and bad belief, 
'Tis hard to pry the old world loose ; 

But simple Truth is our relief, — 
To live it is the only ruse. 

We've tired of those who bawl and prate 

About the sinfulness of man, 
While the world goes on at the same old rate 

In Selfishness — despite their "plan." 

A plan, that on my brother's blood 
A price and bargain has been laid ; 

And, by faith, that price has stood 
For all the mischief we have made. 

For simple Justice and Common Sense, 

Theology was not invented. 
But why, and how, and where, and whence 

This old world caught it — I pass, demented ! 



32 



Why, the Whitest Soul that was ever infleshed, 
That worked like a Prince, and did not falter, 

Healed, taught, and the multitude refreshed, 
Should lie, like a bullock, on a Pagan altar? 

The men and women of the Churches 

God's Children are ; I love them ; 
But I protest Sectarian work, 

And Warring Creeds above them. 

XIII. 
VIRTUE 

;< The Iyark sings to his desire, not his possession." — Donius. 

A Harbor Fve found 

On the sea of my life, 
Where sunbeams play around, 

And no waves are at strife. 
In my storm-worn bark 

I entered a cove : 
Here I halted to hark ; 

And, behold, from a grove 
Was wafted on air, 

A song of the Queen 
Of this harbor, so fair. 

The song and the scene 
33 



So blended together, 

In beauty and cheer, 
That none could tell whether 

The eye or the ear 
Was the way to the soul. 

Her glory of face, 
Usurping control ; 

That masterful grace, 
The magical light 

Of those wonderful eyes, — 
In a captive's plight, 

I stood with surprise ! 



Confessing to this, — 

As captives all should, — 
She gave me a kiss. 

From then I believed 
That my actual state — 

If not badly deceived — 
Was more like a Mate 

To my Lady's Grace, 
Than I dared to have tho't, 

When I first saw her face, 
And her eyes I first caught ! 
34 



Time, in his flight, 

Has proved our Love true. 
Long, since that night, 

(Between me and you,) 
Her truth without measure, 

My affection most deep, 
We gladly treasure, 

And sacredly keep. 
Her Soul is the scepter 

Controlling my life. 
In my heart have I kept her, 

Thru strenuous strife — 
So exacting my Queen ! 

But a wiser Companion, 
Has no prince ever seen. 

"A Romance of Youth !"— 

And then you smile/ 
But twig you this Truth 

Which is worth you the while ? 

The same ocean that laves 
Your shore and scene, 

Shines in the harbor 
Of your only Queen/ 

35 



XIV. 
DESTINY— SELF-MADE 

Stripped for the race in the New Life we stand ; 
The sky is above us, our feet on the land. 
The illusions that bound us can bind us no more ; 
Now we answer the call heard ages before. 

Oh, welcome events, — of the day, or the dark ; 
No wind that fills the sail of our bark, 
Can carry us from the place where we shall come, 
For the limitless Universe is our home. 

I want not the things withheld from me ; 
In league with Nature's laws, I'm free ! 
Free, the guilt of "Special Providence ,, sought, 
Free to the Aim of Obedience wrought. 

I doubt not, nor fear, complain not, nor sigh ; 
What's for me seeks me ; I answer, "Here am I." 
Comes nothing in the world, too early, or too late ; — 
Wouldst know Peace? Then learn to make thy 
Fate. 



36 



"IN TUNE" 

Throughout the Universe Divine, 
A loving chain of sequence runs ; 

And when our wills with this intwine, 
We work in league with stars and suns. 

To work the Will Divine, and live 
In harmony with laws and forces, 

A Cosmic Commerce of receive and give ! 
At home with worlds, in all their courses,- 

"The Home-feeling ,, springs in our heart; 

And Conscious that the Whole of Life 
Is dear to us, in every part, 

We Love Mankind, — and cease our strife ! 

XV. 
THE VOICE 

I have made of one blood all the nations, 
That dwell on the face of the earth, 

To live in the peaceful vibrations 

Of my Children, from hour of their birth. 

You have set them against one another ! 

In the midst of their struggle to live, 
You left each in the fear of his Brother, 

While the Law of all Life is to Give. 
37 



Your kings and your masters have taken 

My cattle and timber and lands ; 
And the earth is now broken and shaken 

By the guns of your battling bands. 

I'm tired of your bating and breeding 
My Youth for the altars of Mars, 

Where hunger and thirsting and bleeding 
Fills the sickening scenes of your wars. 

Thru the plaster and lath of pretentions 
Will I thrust the rod of my power ; 

I will sweep from the earth your inventions, 
That obstruct the Dawn of my Hour. 

Your tools of oppresison I'll scatter, 
The Slave and his Mother, be free ; 

The thrones of your power, I will shatter, 
And Life shall be large as the Sea. 

The Smiles of my Children shall attend it, 
And their songs shall be heard thru the night, 

And the Joy of Life, as intended, 

Shall fill the glad world with its light ! 



38 



SOME BLOSSOMS AND COSMIC DUST 

"A great American revival is to be the revival of a Spiritual Force 
in the terms of National life." — Prof. George H. Boke, University of 
California. 

Back of the tree was the seed, 

Back of the river, the rill ; 
Back of each life and destiny 

Was strewn its good or ill. 

If good, the life is a treasure; 

If ill, it means a fight 
For every forward step 

In Competence and Right. 

If we could understand 

God's speech in Nature's Laws, 

Our noblest Religion 

Would look to Effect and Cause. 

We'd waste less time in asking 

Our Father to forgive, 
And get us down to the Business 

Of learning How to Live. 



39 



IDEALS 

Ideals now hold for you those lofty Heights. 
Unwarned, you visit them in spirit flights. 
You know they're there, and may await your hour 
In peace, for Realizing Power. 

INVESTMENTS 

Your treasures of Mind 

Are Investments of Soul ; 
Securely hold them, 

As the years onward roll. 
You cannot be bankrupt, 

Nor fear a decline, 
For all Truth has a place 

In the Market Divine. 



40 



A SONG IN MINOR KEY 

'Tis Nature's sacred hour! 

A golden light 
Is streaming back across 

The distant hills ; 
A peaceful calm pervades 

My soul tonight, 
For in that Backward flow of light, 
A Symbol of my hope's delight 

I see, which all my being fills ! 



The daylight now is gone, 
And with its flight 
My Symbol, too, has flown ; 

With it did rest 
Two voiceless Thoughts, 

For one sweet moment bright, — 
But one has vanished with the light, 
The other (groping in the night), 

I put to sleep within my breast. 



41 



THE PATIENT AND THE DOCTOR 

Sick upon his bed he lays ; 
Painful and dreary are his days ; 
Fever almost sets him wild, — 
But, with every call, the Doctor smiled. 
Spoke he not of the patient's grief, 
Said nothing of a quick relief : 
Just Smiled into his face, and broke 
A quiet, sympathetic joke! 

The Doctor, each repeating morn , ) 

Repeats the magic of his Smile. 
The patient feels new life is born ; 

The watchful, skillful Nurse, the while, 
Carries out the Doctor's plan ; 

Without knife, or drug, or pill 
Changed the "patient" to a man ; 

And healthy and happy he's living still. 



42 



THE ROSES AND THE SUNBEAM 

TO A. D. F. 

"The senses imprison us." — Emerson. 

Two roses hung from the self same bush ; 

Not a sound the silence stirred ; 
And, from the heart of the noon-day hush, 

I will tell you what I heard. 

One rose said to the other white rose, 

With the echo of a sigh, 
"I wonder where all the perfume goes, 

The breeze takes in passing by." 

A wandering gleam of bright sunbeam 

Paused for a moment's space 
To say, — "Down deep in the poet's dream 

Your fragrance has found its place ; 

"In what I wrought by the dreamer's tho't 

To flow from his golden pen, — 
To do what the poet knoweth not, 

In the hearts of other men." 

The roses asked of the sunbeam's flood, 

"Where goeth all things fair?" 
It answered thus: "They return to God ; 

And He dwelleth everywhere." 
43 



O MY COUNTRY !— ARE THEY CRAZY? 

O My Country ! How can I sing thy songs 
Of Peace in major key, while cruel wrongs 
Are forced upon my Brothers over there, 
Where Brotherhood is mocked, by bloodshed and 
despair ? 

The ghoulish ghost of Conquest is abroad, 

And holds a Continent in awful spell. 
They forfeit all the progress they have made, 

And turning this fair earth into a hell. 
Their war has quenched their factory fires at home ; 

Few there be who can employment give, 
Of heads of homes, but few will e'er return — 

Their kings possess the lives, by which the people live. 

O Europe! In trust with centuries of Art, — 
Not yours to spoil — belonging to the World, 

For empty glories, your titled sons may boast, 
By you it is into Destruction hurled. 

The conquering armies make a Solitude. 

The venal press, forthwith, declare it "Peace!" 
Yes, a gruesome peace, that lies in Death's embrace ; 

That stops the pulse of Human Love and Hope, 
And slays the Aspirations of a Race ! 

44 



With Thee, sweet Hope, 
Abides the heavenly light, 

That shows us better things 
Beyond this dreadful night. 



45 



